Are we getting used to the term 'cyber attacks'? Yes indeed and today,
it's no big news to hear a cyber attack on Indian websites. Well, all
that is said and true, it was a real shocker to learn that a total of
117 Government websites were defaced during the first six months of this
year. The series of data pilferage by the cyber crooks over this short
span of time is extremely alarming that it's almost certain that they
can easily get their hands on India's most sensitive data.
Replying to questions in the Parliament, the Minister of State for Communications and Information Technology, Sachin Pilot, revealed that during the period January to June, 2011, 117 Government websites were defaced. The authorities have asked all the affected departments and organizations to provide web server logs of hacked websites for analysis. The cyber cell is also working on to identify the nature and type of attack and vulnerabilities exploited by the hackers.
The increasing infiltration by these cyber criminals to the key government websites raises many eyebrows and here the concern of the general public arises - how safe is our national secrets and the vital data concerning our security? The age-old rivalry between India and Pakistan is no less on the web world and cyber defacement is the best weapon at the hands of the so-called 'cyber warriors'. A group called the 'Indian Cyber Army' hacked 35 Pakistani government websites in December of last year. In retaliation, a hacking group by name the 'Pakistani Cyber Army' attacked the CBI website and left a message which read, "This attempt is in response to the Pakistani websites hacked by 'Indian Cyber Army'. We told you before too ..we are sleeping but not dead..remember PCA (Pakistan cyber army)!..back off kids or we will smoke your d00rs off like we did before."
There has been an increased attempt from the Chinese hackers too to infiltrate into Indian websites both government and private, and most of them were successful. It's has been revealed by Sachin Pilot that the information on the website of National Investigation Agency (NIA) was temporarily disabled; however, he argued that the website was not hacked. Latest in the series, security experts have unearthed what termed as global cyber-espionage campaign or the biggest series of cyber attacks to date that involves infiltration of the networks of 72 organizations comprising the UN, many governments and companies across the globe. India is also reportedly hit by this espionage campaign dubbed 'Operation Shady RAT'.
Startled by the recurrence and the grave security risks that these cyber attacks create, the government is going all out to prevent such attacks in the future. Every government department is asked to tighten the security
measures of their websites based on the analysis by the cyber cell.
The detailed analysis report and the countermeasures to plug the
exploited vulnerabilities were provided to the affected organizations by
Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In). Some of the measures
suggested to ensure cyber security are: A cyber security audit for all
new Government websites and applications, before and after their
hosting; NIC is directed not to host websites without audit; CERT-In
will issue alerts and advisories regarding latest cyber threats and
countermeasures; implement a Crisis Management Plan to counter cyber
attacks and cyber terrorism in all ministries and departments of
central/state governments.
Replying to questions in the Parliament, the Minister of State for Communications and Information Technology, Sachin Pilot, revealed that during the period January to June, 2011, 117 Government websites were defaced. The authorities have asked all the affected departments and organizations to provide web server logs of hacked websites for analysis. The cyber cell is also working on to identify the nature and type of attack and vulnerabilities exploited by the hackers.
The increasing infiltration by these cyber criminals to the key government websites raises many eyebrows and here the concern of the general public arises - how safe is our national secrets and the vital data concerning our security? The age-old rivalry between India and Pakistan is no less on the web world and cyber defacement is the best weapon at the hands of the so-called 'cyber warriors'. A group called the 'Indian Cyber Army' hacked 35 Pakistani government websites in December of last year. In retaliation, a hacking group by name the 'Pakistani Cyber Army' attacked the CBI website and left a message which read, "This attempt is in response to the Pakistani websites hacked by 'Indian Cyber Army'. We told you before too ..we are sleeping but not dead..remember PCA (Pakistan cyber army)!..back off kids or we will smoke your d00rs off like we did before."
There has been an increased attempt from the Chinese hackers too to infiltrate into Indian websites both government and private, and most of them were successful. It's has been revealed by Sachin Pilot that the information on the website of National Investigation Agency (NIA) was temporarily disabled; however, he argued that the website was not hacked. Latest in the series, security experts have unearthed what termed as global cyber-espionage campaign or the biggest series of cyber attacks to date that involves infiltration of the networks of 72 organizations comprising the UN, many governments and companies across the globe. India is also reportedly hit by this espionage campaign dubbed 'Operation Shady RAT'.
Startled by the recurrence and the grave security risks that these cyber attacks create, the government is going all out to prevent such attacks in the future. Every government department is asked to tighten the security
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